The Latest Insights from Leading NOW

One of my favorite quotes is from a Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, who said ”Change is the only constant in life.” I’ve been thinking about the pace of Change for months now. I see Change happening at our clients’ organizations and I see the toll it is taking on their employees. And, I have been asking the question: “How do you lead in the face of constant change?”

In advertising, it's the transition from managing the client to managing the business. In construction, it's the transition from managing the project to managing the business. In professional services firms it's the transition from delivering client services to advancing the business by revenue generation. In your company, it is likely the transition from managing managers to running a business.  

January is National Mentoring Month (#NaMeMo) in the United States, and while the month originally focused on mentoring youth, it has now grown to include all forms of mentoring. For us at Leading Women, our research has found that mentoring women is not only good for the women being mentored, but other women in the pipeline and their company's bottom line. 

Recently, a podcast host asked me if I’d be interested in doing an interview on gender differences in leadership styles. More specifically, the host wanted me to chat about how women are much more inclusive leaders than men. On the surface, this seems like a positive development for women, and something that’s worth crowing about. It’s also got a lot of traction: viewing women as more inclusive leaders seems like something that will finally get them into the C-suite en masse, no? I declined. No matter how positive it might seem on the surface to point out the “innate” characteristics of female leaders, it never leads to the kind of change we want. Read on to learn about the sinister side of gender essentialism, and how defining women leaders differently doesn’t serve them.

There are many things that women haven't been told about leadership from career-start to the corporate boardroom. Here are 9 fundamental things about leadership that women haven't been told and need to know. They are these. Leadership is simple, but it's not easy. It's simple if you have a definition of leadership that is useful and prescriptive. This is the first of 9 things that every woman should know about leadership: 1. "Leadership is using the greatness in you to achieve and sustain extraordinary outcomes by engaging the greatness in others." This definition is one you can use to make plans at the start of each day or evaluate actions at the end of each day. Acts of leadership involve standing on the foundation of personal greatness, focusing on achieving key outcomes and engaging others in achieving those outcomes. 

Capitalize on Mentoring and Take Your Career to the Next Level Make the Most of Mentoring is the most important book written on the subject since the advice "get a mentor” was first given to women interested in building their careers. Susan Colantuono's eye-opening new book sheds light on why formal mentoring programs haven't delivered better results for women. Its unique and refreshing content is written for mentors, protégés and professionals who run corporate mentoring programs. Insightful and rich with advice, Make the Most of Mentoring delivers unconventional guidance on how to tap into the power of this valuable career tool, optimize your time invested and reap high-impact benefits. You’ll find valuable tools including:

Learn what women haven't been told about leadership from career-start to the corporate boardroom.  Conventional wisdom about leadership will take you only so far! With the right leadership skills, the highest levels of career success are well within a your reach. But much that you've been told about leadership is outdated, incomplete and ineffective. If you rely on conventional wisdom about the career success equation it will fail you because of The Missing 33%™ No Ceiling, No Walls takes a fresh, unblinking look at leadership. It identifies the vital missing piece of the leadership equation, and offers specific, actionable information not found anywhere else, including:

To prepare my presentation for the National Association of Women Lawyers General Counsel Institute, I interviewed GCs, CEOs and directors on corporate boards asking the question: "What are the most important selection and success criteria for General Counsels?" In all but one case the very first words out of their mouths emphasized the importance of being seen as a "partner in the business;" 50 percent answered with comments such as:

"Acquaintances... represent a source of social power, and the more acquaintances you have, the more powerful you are."    Malcolm Gladwell in The Tipping Point "Leaders who are good networkers... are the connectors... They master what sociologist Mark Granovetter calls the 'weak tie', a friendly yet casual social connection."   Robin Gerber in Leadership the Eleanor Roosevelt Way

The theme for International Women's Day 2017 is #BeBoldForChange. In preparation for a week of related events in Australia, I checked to see what Google could tell us about "bold women".